e

1. In Bush v. Gore (2000),
a. a majority of justices ruled that the manual recount in Florida violated the equal protection clause.
b. the most conservative justices sided with George W. Bush.
c. Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the Florida high court had acted properly in ordering a recount.
d. the justices did not uphold the decision of the Florida Supreme Court.
e. All these answers are correct.

c

2. "Senatorial courtesy" refers to
a. the custom of allowing a senator from the same state as a Supreme Court-approved nominee to perform the swearing-in of that justice.
b. the right of the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve of all Supreme Court justice nominees.
c. the custom by which a senator from the state in which a lower-court vacancy has arisen should be consulted on the choice of the nominee if the senator is of the same party as the president.
d. the practice of seeking approval from the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a president before nominating a Supreme Court justice.
e. the informal blessing that the Senate Judiciary Committee bestows on lower-court federal judgeship nominees.

c

a

5. Which of the following statements is true?
a. A large majority of cases involve issues of statutory and administrative law.
b. A large majority of cases involve issues of constitutional law.
c. Statutory law is derived from administrative law.
d. Administrative law is set by legislatures instead of government agencies.
e. Most cases are state cases and involve issues of constitutional law.

c

d

8. Which of the following does NOT act as a constraint on federal judges?
a. U.S. Constitution
b. statutory law
c. precedent
d. political preferences of judges
e. All of the answers are correct except political preference of judges.

b

9. Which of the following decisions suggests that the Supreme Court justices are attentive to public opinion?
a. voluntary school prayer in the public schools
b. desegregation of public schools with "all deliberate speed"
c. police informing suspected felons of their rights
d. ban on burning the flag
e. None of these answers is correct.

d

10. The Supreme Court is most likely to grant certiorari when
a. the lower appellate court acted improperly.
b. a particularly vague legal issue is involved.
c. a high-ranking member of the Senate requests it.
d. the U.S. government through the solicitor general requests it.
e. the Court believes it has a chance to set strong precedent.

a

11. In deciding who will write the opinion for the majority in a Supreme Court ruling,
a. the senior justice in the majority picks the opinion author when the chief justice is not in the majority.
b. the most senior member of the majority is automatically chosen as the opinion writer.
c. an informal vote is taken among the justices to decide who the writer will be.
d. the decision is made by the most senior member of the dissenting minority.
e. top consideration is given to the justice who has had the least opportunity to write opinions.

a

d

13. Which of the following is an aspect of the merit plan method of appointing judges?
a. The public chooses the individual judge to serve from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by the governor.
b. The public chooses the individual judge to serve from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by a judicial selection commission.
c. The governor-selected judge must run in a public election against other independent candidates.
d. The governor appoints a judge from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by a judicial selection commission.
e. The governor selects the judge to serve from a short list of candidates approved by the voters.

c

14. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah explained his opposition to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court with which of the following justifications?
a. She could not be impartial because she had served as solicitor general.
b. She lacked sufficient judicial experience.
c. She lacked the appropriate judicial philosophy.
d. She possessed too close a personal relationship to the president.
e. She came from an academic background instead of a trial background.

b

15. Which of the following is true of courts of appeals?
a. They act as interpreters of law rather than as supervisors of the legal system.
b. They generally presume the facts found by the district courts to be correct.
c. They create their own case records to review instead of using the lower court's records.
d. New evidence is often but does not have to be introduced in an appeals case.
e. Most courts of appeals rely on juries.